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5.1 Grammar
The most common differences can be grouped under three headings:
differences to do with the verb
differences to do with the noun and pronoun
differences to do with the preposition
5.2 Vocabulary and idioms
It is possible to distinguish three types of vocabulary:
5.0.1 The common word-stock
The greater proportion of English words are common to both main forms of English. Words such as man, woman, fish, sky, tree, week, math, green, hot, smell, and thousands of others are exactly the same in both kinds of English.
5.0.2 Common ideas, different words
The second category is a large number of items where an object exists in both British and American culture, but where different words are used for them in the two forms of English.
'e.g.' Differences in the organization of Education in Britain and America lead to different terms:
AmE -----> BrE
public school -- maintained school
private school -- public school
grade school -- elementary school
high school -- secondary school
grade -- mark
student -- pupil
semester (quarter) -- term
required (subject) -- compulsory
graduate -- post-graduate
electives -- subsidiary subject
dissertation -- thesis
Associate Professor -- Reader
Assistant Professor -- Senior Lecturer
Instructor -- Lecturer
Other examples:
anyplace -- anywhere
someplace -- somewhere
noplace -- nowhere
attorney -- barrister, solicitor
hood -- bonnet (of a car)
trunk -- boot (of a car)
fender -- bumper (of a car)
suspenders -- braces
automobile -- car
parking lot -- car park
cab -- taxi
candy -- sweets
French fries -- chips
checkers -- draughts
elevator -- lift
fall -- autumn
fine -- good
outlet -- power point
windshield -- windscreen
American English and British English sometimes have slightly different idioms, such as:
AmE -----> BrE
a home away from home -- a home from home
leave well enough alone -- leave well alone
a tempest in a teacup/teapot -- a storm in a teacup
blow one's own horn -- blow one's own trumpet
sweep under the rug -- sweep under the carpet
5.0.1 Words with no counterparts
The third category covers words for ideas and objects in American English which have no counterparts in British English.
GEOGRAPHY: gulf, prairie, canyon; state, downstate, upstate; downtown, uptown, ranch, etc
GOVERNMENT: Congress, Senate, veep, honeymoon, House of representatives, President-elect, State Department, Attorney General, etc
Others: drive-in-cinema, hot dogs, hamburgers, potluck, yard sale, popcorns, Manhattan, Times Square, toothpick, die-in
Conclusion
From what has been said above, it is clear that American English is a variety of English Language with its own identical aspects, different kinds of dialects which are conventionally treated under four broad geographical headings: North, Coastal South, Midland, and West.
From my point of view American English is a beautiful and original language. If I had to choose between the languages I would choose the American spelling (it is shorter), but English pronunciation (in my opinion it is more melodious and romantic)!
Additionally I am to say that the whole body of the language is the same. Its similarities still predominate so it won’t be the case that if you learn British English you will have to use a dictionary when you go to the United States, or Canada, or Australia.
Why we learn English
The most important reason for learning English is:
“English – Best Hope for a WorldLanguage”
What hope is for a common language and how can this goal be best reached? There are, of course, supporters of new international languages. Esperanto has made some progress although it is improbable that it will ever provide the answer. Of the existing languages, English has by far the best start. The total number of languages in the world is large: between 4,000 and 4,500. There are only five languages that can claim a very large number of speakers, namely, Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi-Urdu and Russian (in that order). Of these languages, only English can claim to be a more or less universal language
Now I would like to present the table I’ve made. As we could see the most spread language is Chinese. It is spoken by about 1 billion people. It is easy to explain. China is the most populated country in the world. That is why every sixth man speaks Chinese.
Реферат опубликован: 19/10/2008